How effective is ipilimumab for melanoma?

ipilimumab is an effective treatment of melanoma, which generally improves survival in patients suffering from aggressive form of skin cancer. Studies suggest that patients taking ipilimumab for melanoma survive for longer - about 10 months - than in patients with other treatments - about 6.4 months. Research has also shown that a combination of a drug with dakarbazine is more effective than dakarbazine administered with placebo. Overall, ipilimumab is considered to be very effective treatment of melanoma, but the drug carries some potentially very serious side effects such as liver failure and intestinal perforation.

compared to other experimental treatments, with ipilimumab for melanoma treatment improved the level of survival by a little over 50 percent. Melanoma is a rare form of skin cancer and only about 15 to 20 percent of people suffering will survive for more than five years. Ipilimumab helps patients survive for 10 months instead of 6.4 months, experiencing patients with other treatments. It is important to note that these results are compared to other experimental treatmentsAmi.

Studies were also combined using ipilimumab for melanoma with other established treatments and measured its efficacy against other treatment itself. Dacarbazine and ipilimumab were studied to determine their efficacy as combined treatment. The results show that dakarbazine combined with placebo leads to an average survival time of 9.1 months in patients suffering from melanoma. In combination with dakarbazine, ipilimumab provides an average survival period of 11.2 months. It is a less increase in survival than it was found when the drug is compared with experimental treatment.

The effectiveness of the use of ipilimumab for melanoma is related to the primary function of the drug. This is to revive the T-cells needed to fight melanoma. Cells usually have an antigen on the surface that basically prevents them from working. Ipilimumab works against this antigen, thus stimulating T-cells to start destroying cancer cells.

somePotentially serious side effects were associated with the use of ipilimumab for melanoma. These side effects may be fatal in some cases, but are often managed with other drugs. Ipilimumab can cause serious complications such as liver failure, paralysis and intestinal perforation. Patients taking ipilimumab should look for symptoms such as yellowing of the skin, urine for tea color and pain on the right side of the stomach. Blood in the stool of the patient, tingling and numbness in the limbs and stomach pain are other potentially serious symptoms.